Bio
Dr. Gonzalo Pérez-Rosales is a quantitative coral reef ecologist, oceanographer and TEK Diver with a high interest in the depth gradient of marine ecosystems.
After a B.Sc. in Marine Science – Oceanography in the Canary Islands, I moved to Australia, where I joined the amazing world of Coral Reefs. Following academic volunteering programs and after being a fieldwork team member for “Chasing Coral”, I committed myself to the world of Coral Reefs Research and Communication. Finishing a M.Sc. in Biodiversity and Environmental Management of Coral Reefs between France and French Polynesia. I completed a Ph.D. at EPHE-PSL at the CRIOBE, focusing on the Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems of French Polynesia, again between French Polynesia and France. During my thesis entitled: Diving Deep on the Reef Slopes in French Polynesia: new insights into mesophotic coral ecosystems. I was under the supervision of Laetitia Hédouin and Valeriano Parravicini. This thesis was possible thanks to the DEEPHOPE expedition and project with the Under The Pole team, for which I was an offshore scientist collecting data for my thesis and for others. The thesis was mainly carried out in French Polynesia.
My first PostDoc was at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), working on the Super Reefs Project. A joint project from WHOI, Stanford and The Nature Conservancy to identify the reefs across the tropics with higher likelihood to withstand future heatwaves and survive global warming and climate change.
I am currently on a PostDoc Fellowship at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology HKUST working on the OceanEcolLab. Our project aims to understand the oceanography, functions and biodiversity gradients of Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems in the Coral Triangle.
My ultimate goal is to provide empirical research and tools for science-based conservation decisions for the oceans’ future with global changes.
Education
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | Woods Hole, Massachussets, United States
Postdoctoral Investigator | 2022 - 2023 Work on the Super Reefs Project
École Pratique des Hautes Études | French Polynesia and France
Ph.D. Marine Biology | 2018 - 2022 Diving deep on the reef slopes in French Polynesia: new insights into mesophotic coral ecosystems
École Pratique des Hautes Études | France
M.S.c Biodiversity and environmental management | 2016 - 2018
University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | Spain
B.S.c in Marine Science & Oceanography | 2010 - 2014
Experience
WHOI | Postdoctoral Investigator | 2022 - 2023
CRIOBE | PhD candidate and Master internship | 2016 - 2022
Under The Pole | Fieldwork scientist | 2018 - 2019
Mesophotic.org | Coordination and Data curation | 2016 - now
Chasing Coral Film | Production assistant, camera and fieldwork team member | 2016
University of Queensland | Volunteer Coral Reef Ecosystems Lab | 2016
Oceanografica | Marine Science Campaigns - Communication and Science | 2013 - 2014